Page 30 of Royally Bad

I pulled her by her elbow. “Let’s get you inside.”

Together we climbed the steps. The overhanging roof darkened us, and the lamps glowing through the warped windows created gold highlights all around. Sammy tightened her fingers on my forearm. I luxuriated in that touch; so basic, soreal.

For a second, I felt like this badass of a woman needed me.

That she trusted me.

I’d have traded a year of my life for more of that feeling.

“Kain!” My mother threw the door open, shocking us both. Sammy pulled her hand away, the gap between us as good as a mile. “There you are! I was getting worried!”

Scratching my neck, I shrugged. “Ma, come on. I texted you an hour ago.”

“An hour is a long time.” Her serious eyes focused on my guest. “Wait. Sammy? Why are you here?”

Motioning with my chin, I walked around my mom, trusting Sammy would follow me; she did. “Where’s Dad?”

“Kain, what happened?” Closing the door behind us, my mother wrapped her long, silken blue robe tighter. The suspicion in her elegant face melted into fear. “Never mind. I’ll hear it from you when you tell your father. Come on.” Her slippers scuffed along the polished floors. Even in her before-bed state, my mother was graceful.

Like a true patriarch, he was waiting for us in his sitting room. He was dressed like he had plans to go out on the town: fine trousers, an ironed button-down of deep black. Maverick Badd had never been cruel to me, but even as a grown-ass man, I was still unnerved by my father.

But I didn’t have time for that.

“Mav?” my mother asked, stepping to the side. She followed the thick man’s gaze as it rolled over me, then Sammy.

He looked at me with a patience so heavy it could crush my lungs. Seeking out the still-crisp anger in me, I stepped forward. “Dad, someone broke into Sammy’s house and attacked her. This has to be related to the raid, there’s no way it’s a coincidence.”

His eyes traced over to Sammy. “The Deep Shots caused the raid. Felt talked to our inside man and called me an hour ago to confirm it. Why would they go after her, of all people, afterwards? She’s a nobody to them—no offense, sweetheart.”

Sammy’s face went all pinched. “Calling me sweetheart offends me more. I don’t care who you think attacked me or who I am to anyone. I’m only here because Kain convinced me that it was better to talk to you than to the cops.” Her glare cut my way. “I don’t know why I listened to him. Give me a phone.”

Disbelief darkened my dad’s expression. I had to cover my mouth; I was too close to cracking up. I didn’t want him getting all pissed off, but fuck, seeing him lose his cool because of Sammy was just too delicious.

My mother broke the silence first. “You’ve got a pair of balls on you, girl.” Unlike me, she didn’t hide her amusement. “Mav, hear what she has to say.”

He’d gone from slumping to leaning forward. More than ever, he looked like some beastly gargoyle, ready to pounce. A heartbeat passed, two of them—then he sat back and smiled at my mother. “Only because you asked, Carmina.”

“Go on,” I said to her.

Sammy gave me a quick look. Facing my father, she stood as tall as possible. “This evening, a man broke into my upstairs bedroom. He tried to attack me, but I got away.”

“How?” Maverick asked.

She took a second, then said, “I cracked him in the head with a coffee mug.”

That made me look at her all over again. “A coffee cup?” I whispered.

She just shrugged sheepishly.

My father leaned sideways in his chair, he didn’t seem certain what to think. “I’m still not sure what that has to do with us. Kain, let her talk to the police if she wants. It sounds like a robber just tried to sack her place and got a concussion instead. Why don’t—”

“Wait,” Sammy blurted.

Each of us stopped, gazing at her curiously. “What is it?” I asked gently.

Her eyes widened, then they kept going. It was the sort of look you had when you suddenly remembered not just the dream you’d had, but how awful the details had been. “It wasn’t a random robber. I’veseenhim before.”

“Where?” I asked.

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